


Legend of Zelda: Forest Whispers

by Sakalemlucas



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-22 14:08:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17664089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakalemlucas/pseuds/Sakalemlucas
Summary: Sari is the daughter of Link, the Hero of Twilight. She grew up in her father's homeland, Ordon Village, and spent most of her life in the forest practicing her sword skills. One day, after a tough fight in the woods, she is welcomed home with the disturbing that her father has gone missing in foreign lands. Restless to find out what happened, she goes on a mission to meet Queen Zelda and save her father from evil forces.





	Legend of Zelda: Forest Whispers

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting a story. English is not my first language, and attempting to write a full tale in a second language has proven to be quite challenging. However, I want to get better at it, so I'm taking this opportunity to practice, learn, and get better!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this story. I'm trying to bring a darker, more adult feeling to the Zelda series, and Twilight Princess felt like the right setting to use as the background for a story with a somber tone.
> 
> Enjoy!

Sari raised her sword from the ground one more time. Just a few seconds earlier, a white wolfo had ambushed her in the woods and clenched his sharp claws on her left leg. Thought the attack caught her by surprise, she pulled herself together quickly and moved fast to retrieve her sword. As she gripped the weapon close to her body, the wolfo jumped away from her, and for a moment they just stared at each other. 

A cold breeze swept over them, shaking the tall trees’ branches and sprinkling the soil with falling leaves. Warm blood oozed out of the wound on her leg, though the adrenaline numbed the pain. She knew white wolfos were much stronger than their silver counterparts, but she wasn’t scared. It was like training in the forest with her father again, and she missed those days.

She wrapped both hands around the sword’s hilt and held the blade upwards, facing the beast eye to eye to anticipate his next move. 

“I got this,” she said. “Just think about what _he_ would do.”

And then everything happened very fast. The wolfo plunged towards her, his claws aiming at her face. She shielded his airstrike with her sword, falling on her back with the weight of the attack. Seconds after touching the ground, she rolled sideways and swiped her sword on the wolfo’s legs as she got up. The creature let out an aching howl and attempted to back off to safety, but Sari was faster. She jumped in the air and stuck her sword down the wolfo’s back. The blade pierced through skin and bones, and the monster’s white fur was rapidly stained by his own blood. He tried to get away from her reach, but Sari stomped her foot on his back, using all strength in her body to stick him to the ground with her sword. After minutes that felt like hours, the wolfo stopped fighting back. He was dead.

“Who’s the big monster now, eh?” she smiled, happy for the small victory.

After the short battle, she limped her way through the trees to a nearby river to wash her wound. It was a deep cut, but fortunately she had brought some fast-healing medicine from Malo’s apothecary. She applied the green lotion on the injury, which burned a little, and covered it with a piece of torn fabric. She washed the dirt away from her face and arms and, as she looked at the river, she caught her own reflection on the crystalline water. She looked tired, still dirty, her blonde hair all over the place, and she smelled. She needed a bath urgently.

“It’s getting late,” she thought, looking at the sky. The last rays of sunlight were dimming over the trees – soon the moon would crawl its way up to the center of the sky. “Curfew time. I gotta go back,” her tone was irritated. 

Ever since the Twilight War, when Zants’ minions kidnapped all the village kids, the elders had established a rule that no one should venture into the forest after nighttime. Sari grew up within those rules, and for the most part she was used to not having the same level as freedom as other kids in the kingdom probably did. However, now that she was older and capable of self-protection, it all seemed sheer nonsense. It had been more than 20 years since the twilight had taken over Hyrule, and yet the village folks still lived under a constant fear of another tragedy storming down their peaceful lives. Nevertheless, she had to obey to the rules, or else her mom would stop letting her wandering around the forest for good. 

As Sari walked back home, she kept feeling like someone was watching her. She turned around a few times, ready to fight whatever creature that possibly followed her, though there was nothing there but the old trees. She tried to listen for footsteps, but all she could hear was the brittle air currents and the water floating down the river. She was alone in the forest, as she had always been.

It wasn’t the first time that she felt stalked or observed. In fact, every time she entered Faron Woods, she was instantly hit by a weird sensation that invisible eyes stared at her constantly. Sometimes she thought it was an evil presence, some dangerous monster lurking in the shades and hungry to feast at her dead body; other times it was like a guardian soul taking care of her, making sure that nothing foul would approach her in the forest. That afternoon, though, she couldn’t really tell – still, there was something out there.

It was already dark when Sari made it to the village, almost a full hour after curfew. She didn’t expect the wound to slow her that much, especially after using the pricey medicine that Malo had promised to be “the best healing ointment in all of Hyrule.” Luckily, there were no other monsters on the way back, just a few friendly monkeys partying around the trees – it was always a festive evening for those chimps, how loud they were! Usually the village would be engulfed by darkness after sunset, with just a few torch lights dimly illuminating the small paths and bridges leading to the residents’ homes. However, an unusual source of light shone brighter than the moon that night. A gleaming ray of light crossed the sky, something Sari had never seen before. “A falling star,” she thought at first, but it wasn’t really moving anywhere. It was just there – a thick, luminous line cutting through the stars. An astral wonder.

The marvelous streak of light got Sari so distracted that she didn’t notice she had already passed by her house and was about to fall inside the pond on her backyard. “Ugh. That was close,” she said. Her eyes lingered at the pond for a few seconds as childhood memories childhood flashed through her eyes. That’s where her father taught her how to swim for the first time, and how to fish as well. Happy days, they were.

Her house was the last one in the village. It was a modest cabin, built by her father and grandpa with fine wood from Ordona region. The entrance door led to a spacious living room, coupled with a rustic kitchen where her mom usually baked the tastiest sourdough bread in the world. Walking into her house when her father and mom were happier together was like being hit with the warmest breeze – a feeling as cozy as love at its purest form. 

A lot had changed since her father started spending more and more time in the capital. Her mom, Ilia, was still a nice woman, but not as glowing as before. She was often in a bad mood – and to make it worse, whenever Sari broke curfew rules, Ilia would let her angriest self out and just lecture her for what felt like hours. Sari didn’t want to go through that again tonight. Her leg hurt, there was a weird trail of light up in the sky, and she was all dirty and sweaty. 

Sari opened the door as slowly and silently as she could, hoping that her mom was upstairs in her bedroom and wouldn’t notice her walking in the evening time. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Ilia was right there, in the living room, sitting by the chimneyed fireplace. Sari froze by the doorstep and squinted her eyes together, ready for the scolding speech. But nothing happened. She peeked at her mom, and quickly realized that something was off.

Ilia had always been a beautiful woman. Age didn’t seem to affect her angelic features. Her face still looked as young as when she gave birth to Sari, and her eyes still shone as green as the deep ocean, bright like emeralds. However, that evening, none of that light was there. Ilia seemed distant, with a profound sad visage, and her eyes were clouded by shadows.

“Mom, is everything ok?”

There was a tense silence as she waited for her mom to answer. Ilia didn’t seem to have heard her question. She kept staring at the nothing, fiddling with a piece of paper that only now Sari saw that she was holding.

“Mom?” Sari insisted.

Still not looking at Sari, Ilia responded. “A messenger from the capital just left the house,” her voice was trembling, “there’s been an incident in Golliath.”

“Golliath? The Golliath Kingdom?” Sari asked.

“Yes. Your father was there on a mission.”

Sari was confused. She thought her dad was at the capital, protecting the Queen. “What was dad doing in Golliath?”

“There was a battle. Monsters…” she paused. “Many of them.”

For the first time since Sari arrived, Ilia turned towards her daughter. Their eyes met. Fear. Doubt. Despair. Her mom shivered, even though it was as warm as a summer night could get in those parts of the kingdom.

“He fell down the monsters’ abyss, Sari. They can’t find him. He disappeared in the darkness.”

Suddenly the air grew thicker, falling heavy on Sari’s shoulders. She stared at Ilia in silence and saw a thin drop of tear fall from her mom’s eyes. She tried to think of what to say or ask, but her train of thoughts was interrupted by someone bursting the front door open.

“Ilia! Ilia, honey, I’m so sorry,” it was her grandpa, Mayor Bo. “Oh, Sari! Thank goodness you’re back! I was just asking Talo and Jaggle to go looking for you in the forest. We were starting to get worried. I… I’ll be right back – hopefully they haven’t left yet. Sari, make your mom some tea. She doesn’t look too well,” and he left abruptly.

“Mom, please calm down. Tell me what the messenger said, word by word. What happened to dad in Golliath?”

Ilia was now shaking. She started taking in big chunks of air, venting in and out – she did that every time she got nervous or stressed, Sari learned that from the days that she and her father fought all the time.

“He said your father led a group of Hyrule soldiers to Golliath. The Gollis needed help fighting these monsters,” she paused to ventilate again. “Your father was at the forefront of a battle between the monsters and the soldiers. And then he fell down a cliff. He said that’s where the monsters come from, the abyss. He said your father was swallowed… Swallowed by the darkness.”

Sari looked at the piece of paper on Ilia’s hands. It was branded with the Queen’s mark – a golden Triforce

“What’s that?”

“It’s a letter written by the Queen herself,” Ilia handed the royal parchment to Sari.

The Triforce symbol stood golden and regal on top of the letter, at the center of the paper. Below, Sari recognized the Queen’s calligraphy, curved and delicate. She had seen the Queen’s writing before on the letters she used to send to her father whenever he spent too much time at home and away from the castle.

_Dear Ilia,_

_I am deeply sorry to inform you and your family about the misfortunate events that fell upon your husband, Link, our beloved and brave soldier._

_Link left Hyrule a week ago to aid the Golliath army against a horde of wicked monsters. However, it appears that the evil forces are more powerful than we predicted. Although outnumbered, they still got the upper hand. Somehow, they have dragged Link down to their lair and killed all Hyrulean soldiers. We’ve lost many lives, and our kingdom cries in sorrow for those who fought for us._

_Despite these tragic events, I still feel hopeful. Hopeful that we will, once again, win the battle against evil. Hopeful that Link will overcome the forces keeping him restrained._

_My dear Ilia, please remember that Link is a strong man. The strongest this kingdom has and will ever see. He will survive this, just like he did years ago when Ganon cursed our world with twilight shadows._

_Please know that we are doing everything in our hands to rescue him. We will bring him back._

_May the Triforce shine bright on you._

_Yours sincerely,  
Queen Zelda of Hyrule_

Sari knew that her mom and Queen Zelda had never been best friends, but they knew each other well enough for Zelda to write such a personal note. Her father was the closest soldier to the Queen after all, Head of the Royal Army. Over the last years, Link stayed at Hyrule Castle for months without visiting the village, attending to his duties at the capital as the grand protector of the kingdom. 

When Sari was younger, though, he would often be home for the weekends. Those were her favorite years. They would go deep into the woods and just play together for hours. It was in the forest where she first learned how to fight with a sword. Her dad taught her that. Sometimes, if she did very well on her training, he would let her use his clawshot to reach the top of the tallest trees. She was just a kid, but that never stopped Link from showing her how to be strong and brave – he knew that she was meant for greater purposes than just living in Ordon Village forever. And what now, with him missing, or maybe even dead? Who would guide her if her father never came back? Sure, he hadn’t been much present recently, but for good matters – to protect the kingdom. Work matters. Hero matters.

“I managed to reach them before they entered the woods,” her grandpa was back at the house. He sat at the chair next to Ilia. “I guess they were very pleased they didn’t have to go looking for you after sunset. Some folks are still afraid of the dark, you see. Even after all these years…”

“Grandpa, did he talk to you? The Queen’s messenger?”

“Yes… Yes, he did. Your father…” he was interrupted by Ilia’s loud crying. “Now, now, Ilia. There’s no need for crying. Link is not a lad anymore, herdin’ goats for some extra rupees. He is a grown ass hero. He will make it out.”

Sari felt sorry for her mom – she looked hopeless and scared. She wanted to comfort her, tell her it was going to be alright. Tell her that they would pray for the goddess to save Link, the love of her life, from the hands of an ill fate. However, she said none of those things. There was no time for solace. While her grandpa prepared herbal tea, she went into her bedroom and got an old and dusty travel sack she kept under the bed. She packed some extra clothes, a blanket, and the slingshot her dad made when she turned five. She went back into the living room and saw her mom still crying and shaky. The urge to calm her down came back.

“Mom, don’t worry. Grandpa is right. Dad is a strong man.”

Ilia looked at her daughter and, for the first time that night, she noticed the blood stains on her pants and the dirt all over her face, hair, and blue tunic.

“Sari, what happened to you at the forest? Are you hurt?”

“It was nothing. Malo’s medicine is actually working now,” she lied. She turned to her grandpa, who was still heating the water by the stove. “Grandpa, how long ago since the messenger left the village?”

“Er, I don’t know… 15, 20 minutes? I saw you come from the woods just a few minutes after he left your house.”

“Ok, good. I can still catch him,” she muttered.

Her mother’s eyes went from Sari’s packed bag to the sword she now had in her hands. “Sari, what do you think you’re doing?” Ilia snapped.

“Grandpa, tell Fado I’m taking Enbarr on a ride to the capital,” Enbarr was the best horse in the village – the fastest after Epona. “I’m going to find the messenger and request him to take me to the Queen.”

“Sari!” Ilia shrilled, “You’re not going anywhere! You’re just a child!”

“I am as old as my father when he saved the entire kingdom from the twilight. I think I can handle a short trip to find out what really happened to him,” her tone was full of determination.

“I do not allow this!”

“I’m sorry, mom, but I’m not asking for permission.” She knew she had said the wrong thing the minute she finished saying it, but she couldn’t show regret now – she kept a calm and firm disposition and didn’t let go of the sword nor the travel bag.

“Why are you doing this? What do you think you can do to help? You read the Queen’s letter – she doesn’t even know what to do herself. She is _hopeful_ , she said. I want her to go to hell with her false hopes.”

“Ilia!” Mayor Bo yelled.

“I’m sorry, dad.”

“Mom, you don’t have to worry. All I want to do is to take my horse, find the messenger, ask him some questions, and get him to take me to the Queen. He will probably say no and just make me come back home, but you can’t make me just sit here waiting when you also have your own doubts about the Queen’s ability to save my father.”

Mayor Bo handed the tea cup to his daughter. “Ilia,” he said, putting his hands on her face, “let her go…”

“Father!”

He turned around to face Sari. “You go, my child. Find the messenger, talk to the Queen. They’ve been keeping Link to themselves for too long, mission after mission. He barely comes home to see you or his friends anymore. You go get him and bring him back to where he truly belongs.”

Sari was caught by surprise. She was determined to go no matter what they said, but she didn’t expect her grandpa to take her side.

“Mom... Is it ok?”

Ilia peered at her father briefly. Sari couldn’t tell what was going on in her head. A woman who dedicated her whole life to raise a child almost on her own; whose husband, though loving and affectionate when home, didn’t really made the effort to spend some time with her… and now she had let that child go away to foreign roads to find answers about her missing father.

“He said…” Ilia muttered. “He said his name is Straia. Dark hair, pointy goatee. Not too young, not too old. He’s wearing a grey cloak with the Queen’s symbol on the back. Hard to miss.”

The messenger. She was describing the messenger. She approved it! Sari smiled with amazed relief.

“Thank you! Thank you, mom! Grandpa, do you still have dad’s old shield?”

“The Ordon Shield? You know, your dad wore that shield when he banned the twilight from our village. Of course I still have it. It’s in my house.”

“Good. I’m taking it with me.”

In less than ten minutes, Sari had warm milk, healing medicines, bread and goat cheese packed in her travel sack. Her grandpa also gave her some rupees for the road so she could eat and rest on the way to the capital. The nearest municipality, Lon Lon Town, was just an hour away. Her grandpa told her that Straia mentioned he was going to spend the night there, at Epona’s Inn. 

“Sari, send us a bunny as soon as you get to Lon Lon Town. Don’t act like your father, who never writes to us. Keep me informed.”

“I promise I will,” Sari swore. She hugged mom and grandpa goodbye before mounting Enbarr. “I will talk to her, mom. I won’t come back until I have a hearing with the Queen.”

Ilia nodded, still teary and scared. She watched her daughter disappear in the night, galloping into the narrow tunnels that linked the woods to Hyrule Field.

As Sari rode away, partly terrified, partly just anxious, she looked at the sky. The light beam was still up there, perpendicular to the moon, turning the night a bit brighter than normal. Whatever it was, it didn’t scare Sari – it didn’t look dangerous at all. It was beautiful, like a heavenly bridge to the sacred realm. In some way, though completely on her own, the ray of light felt like a sign that she wasn’t alone. She carried the spirits of the forest with her – their strength, their power, their protection. Together, they were going to find her father and bring him home.


End file.
